Triangle

Plot: A group of shipwrecked passengers seek refuge on a seemingly abandoned cruise ship that's more dangerous than the open waters.

Starring: Melissa George (U.S. Attorney (2009) (TV) & "Grey's Anatomy") & Liam Hemsworth (The Last Song)

Review: A truly mind-bending movie. Though the title would suggest a story about the Bermuda triangle, what you're in store for simply cannot be explained. This is one of the best movies I've seen in a long time. It's challenging, intelligent, suspenseful, beautifully acted, and deep. Melissa George is perfect in this film. Once you think you've figured out this film, it throws something else at you. Brilliant.

Rating:

Writing-A

Acting-A

Directing-A

Music-B

Cinematography-A

Editing-A

Costumes-B

Art Direction-A

Hair-B

Makeup-A

Visual Effects-A

**** Stars

Uncertainty

Plot: A couple facing a life altering decision go through two different scenarios after the flip of a coin determines their fate. One side takes them to the girlfriend's family's house. The other takes them on a spur of the moment getaway. Two very different stories, one decision looming.

Starring: Lynn Collins (X-Men Origins: Wolverine), Independent Spirit Award nominee Joseph Gordon-Levitt ((500) Days of Summer), Assumpta Serna (Trash & The Craft), Olivia Thirlby (New York, I Love You & Juno)

Review: A very interesting premise is ruined by "art". I've seen a similar premise to this in a different genre film called Sliding Doors, about a British woman making or not making it through the sliding doors of a subway one day, leading her to live two different journeys. Rent that movie.This movie appeared to be about two seemingly different stories that would in their own different ways lead the characters' to making a difficult decision. The decision was never made. Therein lies the problem of the movie. Each "story" was like watching two separate films of completely different genres play out with the same underlying looming decision punctuating both plots. The acting was brilliant. (Side note: The dialogue for this movie was complete improv, with just the action and story lines being scripted. I couldn't tell it was improv. What a feat!) The movie managed to be both sweet and suspenseful at the same time. However, the couple never make a decision. The movie just ends. It goes from being ingenious to pretentious in the final scene. Listen up Indie film makers- Your movies can have endings. They can have actual plot, not just character development. Not having an ending because you want to be arty or different just makes you look like a lousy writer who couldn't think of an ending to your movie. It's like the film equivalent to a musical fade out. It's the indie version of a cliffhanger ending. Make a decision. This film needed resolution because the decision in the film was the entire catalyst of the story. This movie pissed me off. Endings like this are why my hubby cringes if I say the words "Independent film" because this is the cliche he expects: either no ending or a depressing ending. This movie had the possibility of merging an Independent film's high quality acting and character-development with the plot of a bigger blockbuster film. What a squandered opportunity.

Rating:

Writing-F-epic fail-That's what you get for your artsy endings

Acting-A

Directing-A

Music-B

Cinematography-C

Editing-A

Costumes-A-Each scenario involved a color to keep confusion minimal-very clever

Art Direction-A

Hair-A

Makeup-B

Visual Effects-A

*1/2- Stars- for the brilliant premise and wonderful acting; sometimes a bad ending just ruins a movie.

Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel

Plot: The chipmunks return to the big screen to compete against The Chipettes, a trio of singing female chipmunks and battle the perils of being cuddly, 3 inch, talking animals in high school.

Starring: Zachary Levi ("Chuck"), David Cross (Demoted & Year One), Jason Lee ("My Name Is Earl"), Wendie Malick ("Glenn Martin DDS" & Confessions of a Shopaholic), Camie Award & 2 time Emmy Awards winner Kathryn Joosten (Secret Santa (TV) & "Desperate Housewives"), & Rachele Brooke Smith (Attack at Zombie High! & 17 Again) & voiced by Justin Long (Alvin), Matthew Gray Gubler (Simon), Jesse McCartney (Theodore), Amy Poehler (Eleanor), Anna Faris (Jeanette), Christina Applegate (Brittany), and Sean Astin (Meercat Manor narrator).

Review: Cute but not very exciting sequel to the very popular Alvin and the Chipmunks. Those little animated guys are so cute you just want to pick them up. Not much of a plot going on here little helped by the introduction of the "Chipettes". It's cute. There are a few laughs. The voice-overs really could have been done by anybody. Truth is, I don't know if I liked the movie, because I fell asleep. I guess that speaks for itself. If you want a great Alvin and the Chipmunks movie watch the 2007 film which is very cute or The Chipmunk Adventure.

Rating:

Writing-C

Acting-B

Voice-Over: B

Directing-B

Music-B

Cinematography-B

Editing-B

Costumes-B

Art Direction-A

Hair-A

Makeup-B

Visual Effects-B

Animation-B

**- Stars

The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus

Plot: A travelling theater company gives its audience a chance to be inside their imagination.

Starring: Oscar Nominee Christopher Plummer (The Last Station & The Lake House), the late great Oscar winner Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight), Two time Oscar nominee Jude Law (Cold Mountain), 3 time Oscar nominee Johnny Depp (Finding Neverland), Colin Farrell (Crazy Heart), Lily Cole (Passage), Tom Waits (The Book of Eli), Andrew Garfield (Lions for Lambs), Verne Troyer (College & the Austin Powers' movies).

Review: A visually stunning, grandiose film. I enjoyed this film immensely for it's visual impact, wonderful ideas, and fantastic acting. The one thing I was worried about with this film was the writing because they had to replace Ledger (due to his sudden tragic death) and write that into the script at the last minute. What could have been contrived actually worked perfectly, and the actors that took over for him did a wonderful job of both picking up where Ledger left off as well as putting some of their own interpretation into the role as well. The only downside to this film was the end, where suddenly the "rules" changed for no apparent reason. The element of choice should have been introduced earlier in the film to make the ending less abrupt. All in all a wonderful final film for Mr.Ledger.

Awards:

Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
2010	Nominated	Oscar	Best Achievement in Art Direction
			Best Achievement in Costume Design

Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
2010	Nominated	Saturn Award	Best International Film
			Best Make-Up

Rating:

Writing-B

Acting-A

Directing-A

Music-B

Cinematography-A

Editing-A

Costumes-A

Art Direction-A

Hair-A

Makeup-A

Visual Effects-A

***1/2- Stars

Amelia

Plot: A look at the adult life of legendary pilot Amelia Earhart.

Starring: 2 time academy award winner Hilary Swank (Million Dollar Baby & Birds of America), Indie Spirit Award winner Richard Gere (Hachi & Nights in Rodanthe), Ewan McGregor (The Men Who Stare At Goats), Christopher Eccleston (GI Joe), Joe Anderson (Across the Universe & The Crazies) , Cherry Jones ("24"), & Mia Wasikowska (Alice in Wonderland).

Review: Swank is a genius at truly disappearing into a role. That's where the magic stops. Though the acting was wonderful, Amelia failed to delve into the psyche of Earhart and only gave us an essence of who she was. I felt like I was watching a well-acted news reel rather than a biopic. I wanted to know how she got into flying and what made her tick. Because of that lack of character development, I didn't like the character portrayal. Part of the story involves her enduring marriage to her publicist. It wasn't until the end of the film that I even got the notion that she even loved him. It seemed throughout most of the film that she simply married him for the money to support her flying efforts. By the end of the film, I had changed my mind, but what a long way to go not liking the main character. The special effects were also poorly done. To me, that should be a huge focus of the budget because most of the movie is spent with Mrs.Earhart in the air. Whenever she'd get into danger, I didn't feel like the effects supported that air of danger. It looked as if it was an actress sitting in a box (an unrattling, unshakable box) pretending to be in a plane nose-diving to certain death. The supporting characters didn't support her much in the movie, though they consisted of some top notch actors. This movie could've been grand, could've given us insight into who she was as a person, could've won Oscars, but it seems like they just weren't trying and didn't have the budget to support the special effects. What a shame. The last 30 minutes of the movie were fantastic.

Rating: Writing-D

Acting-A

Directing-C

Music-A

Cinematography-A

Editing-D

Costumes-A

Art Direction-C

Hair-A

Makeup-A

Visual Effects-D

*1/2- Stars

Bad Seed auditions at Warner Robins Little Theater

“Bad Seed” a thriller by Maxwell Anderson, from William March’s novel The Bad Seed, published by Dramatists Play Service, Inc., and directed by Cathy Collins.

Cast: 7 men, 4 woman, and 1 small girl age 8-12

Auditions dates and times: Monday & Tuesday May 17th & 18th, 2010 at 7:30pm

Location:

Warner Robins Little Theater 502 S. Pleasant Hill Road | Warner Robins, Georgia 31088

The scene is a small Southern town where Colonel and Christine Penmark live with their daughter, Rhoda. Little Rhoda Penmark is the evil queen of the story. On the surface she is sweet, charming, full of old-fashioned graces, loved by her parents, admired by all her elders. But Rhoda's mother has an uneasy feeling about her. When one of Rhoda's schoolmates is mysteriously drowned at a picnic, Mrs. Penmark is alarmed. For the boy who was drowned was the one who had won the penmanship medal that Rhoda felt she deserved. One of Broadway's outstanding hits. "It is solely and honestly meant to entertain…As purely purposeful diversion it ranks with 'Dracula' and sometimes sets your spine to as much tingling…chilling." NY Telegram.

Made into the feature film The Bad Seed (1956) and the telefilm The Bad Seed (1985).